Love
by MouHitoriNoKei
Summary: Ryou carries around a plushie and Malik think it's rather odd, and that plushie may just bring them together. (MXR, FLUFF ALERT! RR, no flames)


Well, this is boredom is there ever was anyway. Hehe…over Sai's house when I suddenly came up with the idea (Thanks to Sai, mind you. Thanks ya!) that Ryou would look uberly cute being…well…cute! So, yeah…that's where this story came from. Can we spell FLUFF?! Hehe…anyway…enjoy!

DISCLAIMER:  
Malik: I can spell 'fluff'…R-Y-O-U.

Ryou: ::Pops in:: Hey! That's not fluff! That's my name! Fluff is F-L-U--

Malik: Ryou…go to sleep…

Ryou: OKAY! ::Sleeps::

Malik: ::sighs:: How cute….Kei doesn't own anything…she's poor…and she likes it that way…

Enjoy! :3

**"Love"**

Malik Ishtar would be the first to admit that this was rather odd. Like he was one to talk, but that was besides the issue. All he knew was that the sight before him was one that was quite bizarre, and something that he wouldn't soon forget, but the question was should he obviously state the, well, obvious bluntly.

"Ryou, why in Ra's name are you carrying around that stupid thing?"

Okay, a bit too blunt. Ryou's bottom lip quivered a bit as he clung to whatever was in his arms, something he held dear to his heart. Malik thought long and hard about why someone would even carry around something that tattered to begin with, but again, Malik wasn't one to talk about odd. It was rather obvious that not everyone in Domino City didn't wear golden armbands, golden wristbands, and even a golden collar. So, all in all, Malik wasn't that normal either, so who was he to say another thing about Ryou carrying around an object that the tanned one did find rather amusing. Protectively, Ryou wrapped an arm around the object and sniffled, his pale features accented with a childish glower.

"It's not stupid!" The ashen haired boy protested. "It's cute."

_Cute? _Malik scoffed at the word as with swift movements, he stole the object from Ryou's motherly grasp and held it roughly, according to Ryou, 'hurting its feelings'. "Ryou, it has no feelings! It's just an ugly rug." Ryou gasped in horror, not believing how cruel his new friend was being. "Look, it's just a stupid stuffed animal, no feeling, no life. If you're that damn lonely as to want a pet, get a turtle or something." He shook the plushie before Ryou snatched it back. "At least the turtle moves. Or get a snake! They eat mice!" As amused as Malik was, Ryou only pouted.

"It's not ugly rag, Malik! It's my sheep! My mother made it for me before she died." He sniffled once more, clearing tears that were but invisible to Malik away from his eyes. "She's my favorite."

"Ryou, for Ra's sake, it's a stuffed animal! And, it has that God awful stench." He motioned his hands as if to waft the smell away. "If you really want to remember your mother, carry around her picture in one of those little faggy lockets or something." He looked from the corner of his eye to see Ryou's pouting face, clinging desperately to the sheep stuffed animal, holding it to his chest as if it were his living heart. "Don't tell me you sleep with that thing too!" Ryou nodded as Malik slapped a hand over his face, sighing as if the whole purpose of what he was saying was defeated. His blonde bangs hung lazily over his eyes as through the haze of gold, he peered at Ryou, who only innocently smiled, and much to Malik's chagrin, made the sheep wave, moving its ragged little left hoof to greet the tanned one. He let out a frustrated groan. "This is ridiculous. You're how old and playing with toys?"

"Malik, it's not a toy! It's the last thing my mother made me." He brought the sheep's woolen forehead to his lips, stained a bit with random residue over the years, each blemish seeming to have its own story, and kissed it. Malik's face contorted as his lips touched the disgusting head of the rag. "For a long time, she was my best friend."

"Stop referring to it as if it's real! It's nothing but cloth with stuffing that smells bad and is beyond repair!" He referred to the eye that was hanging on by the tinniest of threads (And that eye looked great compared to the other one, that wasn't even there!), the fleece that wasn't as white as snow (Mary must have got the pick of the litter), and the tail that seemed to be absent all together (A tail, a tail, my farmhouse for a tail). "Ryou, that thing is disgusting, and I think you should throw that…that _thing _out!" That was what got him. Ryou's bottom lip quivered more violently as he stomped his foot like a child with no dessert and shouted, tears engulfing his face and his voice cracking.

"Malik, how can you be so mean?! Didn't you ever had a stuffed animal that you used to talk to?! Well, she is my best friend and I won't throw her away just because you lost your childhood!" Exclaimed the ashen haired one as he retreated, leaving Malik alone to ponder what had just happened, and absorb the guilt that came with it.

The tanned one sat alone for a while and thought long and hard about Ryou's words, _Didn't you ever had a stuffed animal that you used to talk to?!_, and he sighed softly, feeling somewhat defeated. "Yeah, Ryou…I did…"

The tanned one sat alone for a while and thought long and hard about Ryou's words, , and he sighed softly, feeling somewhat defeated. "Yeah, Ryou…I did…" 

_The hot sun beat down upon the sands above, as Malik hid below, where his father had kept the family. He sat in his room, whose cold stone walls kept him a prisoner, even of his own life. The boy of five seemed to sigh as if already bored with a trivial existence. That boredom seemed to be temporarily numbed as Malik's elder sister, Ishizu, entered with a soft smile. _

"Brother, I found this in Father's room. I remember it vaguely, but I think Mother made this for you before Anubis guided her away from Ra's light." Her hands brought forth a small stuffed toy, a caramel colored camel, a soft smile stitched across its long snout. Malik's violet eyes lit up as he greedily took the toy from his sister's hands and held it delicately in his own. "I remember Mother sewing that for you before she was taken. She was so delighted that you were coming, so she thought a gift would be the perfect thing to greet you. After she perished, Father seemed to hide everything away. I thought you might enjoy this, to remember her by." She left the room as quickly as she came, leaving the small boy gazing lovingly at the small relic, bringing it to his chest and exclaiming joyfully. "I'll love you forever," He pondered. This little camel needed a name, something that would make it special, something like, "Mer." And, the name stuck, forever engraved within the small camel's heart, nonexistent as it was. He would cling desperately to that small piece of his mother, his childhood, and frankly…

He still did. What a fool he was to blame Ryou for being desperate enough to cling to his memories so tightly, as Malik was. Malik set off to find Ryou, and when he did, he got what he deserved.

The silent treatment. Malik tried so hard to get Ryou to talk, and suddenly, a cunning smile came across his lips.

"Ryou, the least you can do is talk to me after making me look at that stupid thing."

Ryou whipped around and snapped in a cute, though annoyed voice. "No one said you had to stay around her!"

Malik grinned. "Ha, got you talking. Took long enough."

"You don't play fair." He sniffled and turned away, auburn eyes filled with hurt. The tanned one rested a soft hand upon his shoulder and spoke in calming, soft words.

"Ryou, I'm sorry I was so mean. After you left, I thought about what you said, and I realized," From behind his back, Malik pulled a tattered rag, worn caramel color and a eye hanging on by the tinniest of threads looking up at Ryou. The ashen haired one' s face lit up with such joy as he patted its' little head. "His name is Mer. My mother made him for me before she died." He sighed deeply and now, was truly defeated. Ryou brought the sheep up to his face and made it, once more, wave as Ryou smiled.

"Ai loves you!"

Malik's violet eyes widened a bit as he replayed what was said over and over again in his head. _D-did he just tell me he loved me? No…maybe…he seemed sincere…_The Egyptian smiled as he blushed a soft pink and retorted.

"I love you too, Ryou."

Ryou's expression shifted from one of joy to one of confusion as he brought the sheep away from his eyes and looked on with a dumbfounded (though unbelievably cute) expression. "Um…Malik…Ai is her name, my sheep."

Well, Malik felt like an Obelisk sized idiot. He covered his face (with his own stuffed toy, mind you) and blushed deeper. "Oh my Ra, Ryou, I'm sorry."

"But, that is true, too."

Malik lifted his gaze to look at Ryou, who hastily gave Malik a small, soft kiss on the lips, but the lips Malik had tasted were those of Ai. He chuckled anyway, as Mer replied and kissed Ryou's lips with the same cotton softness.

That night the two spent cuddled in each other's arms, as if they were each other's stuffed toys. Ai and Mer fell asleep the same way.

((AN: Ai and Mer mean the same thing. Ai, in Japanese, means 'Love' as Mer, in Egyptian, means 'love', as well…Ain't it cute?! ))


End file.
